Poetry Analysis Paper of Edgar Lee Masters and Amy Lowell
Hope versus Passionate Love
Two poets can be both alike and different, just as the two poets Edgar Lee Masters and Amy Lowell are Edgar Lee Masters and Amy Lowell write poetry about life, finding love and experiencing loss in very different ways, but both are successful in bringing about a truly touching connection with their readers. These two poets have an extraordinary ability to attract their audiences, by using both romanticism and modern techniques in their writing. Amy Lowell said it best when she said, “A poet feeds on beauty as a plant feeds on air,” and both of these poets are obviously very talented and successful in using natural beauty to be a driving force in their poetry. In her book Tendencies in Modern American Poetry, Lowell also writes, “The poet must himself provide the touchstone which will fuse the crude elements into a plastic and symbolic whole” (153). Masters and Lowell provide this touchstone for their readers, allowing them to go back in time when these characters lived and face the same triumphs and loss that they did, through their story.
Amy Lowell speaks highly of Edgar Lee Masters in her book Tendencies In Modern American Poetry saying, “We may regard the work of these two poets as being the most revolutionary that America has yet produced” (142). Edgar Lee Masters was a modern poet who was often seen using a more direct and straight forward approach to his writing. This enables him to maintain a sense of precision in developing his characters and staying accurate to their lifestyle; they tend to be farmland people. His poem “Lucinda Matlock” is told to the reader from the protagonist’s, an old woman’s point of view, which makes this a dramatic monologue, because she talks about herself and her life. She does this as though she is reflecting back on her life, over a seventy year span. Masters’ poem does not follow a specific rhythm and rhyme pattern that readers were previously used to before the modernist movement came about,
Two poets can be both alike and different, just as the two poets Edgar Lee Masters and Amy Lowell are Edgar Lee Masters and Amy Lowell write poetry about life, finding love and experiencing loss in very different ways, but both are successful in bringing about a truly touching connection with their readers. These two poets have an extraordinary ability to attract their audiences, by using both romanticism and modern techniques in their writing. Amy Lowell said it best when she said, “A poet feeds on beauty as a plant feeds on air,” and both of these poets are obviously very talented and successful in using natural beauty to be a driving force in their poetry. In her book Tendencies in Modern American Poetry, Lowell also writes, “The poet must himself provide the touchstone which will fuse the crude elements into a plastic and symbolic whole” (153). Masters and Lowell provide this touchstone for their readers, allowing them to go back in time when these characters lived and face the same triumphs and loss that they did, through their story.
Amy Lowell speaks highly of Edgar Lee Masters in her book Tendencies In Modern American Poetry saying, “We may regard the work of these two poets as being the most revolutionary that America has yet produced” (142). Edgar Lee Masters was a modern poet who was often seen using a more direct and straight forward approach to his writing. This enables him to maintain a sense of precision in developing his characters and staying accurate to their lifestyle; they tend to be farmland people. His poem “Lucinda Matlock” is told to the reader from the protagonist’s, an old woman’s point of view, which makes this a dramatic monologue, because she talks about herself and her life. She does this as though she is reflecting back on her life, over a seventy year span. Masters’ poem does not follow a specific rhythm and rhyme pattern that readers were previously used to before the modernist movement came about,
Cited: Constantakis, Sara, and David J. Kelly. “Edgar Lee Masters.” Poetry for Students. Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Poetry. Vol. 37. Detroit, MI: Gale/Cengage, 2011. 172-180. Print. Lauter, Paul. “Lucinda Matlock.” 2010. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Sixth ed. Vol. D. Boston, Mass. [u. a.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 1308+. Print. Modern Period 1910-1945. Lauter, Paul. “Patterns.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Sixth ed. Vol. D. Boston, Mass. [u.a.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 1424-426. Print. Lowell, Amy. “Edgar Lee Masters.” Tendencies in Modern American Poetry. Boston & New York: H. Mifflin, 1921. 139-200. Print.